Thai Catholics' Procession for the Mother of God

January 1 is not just the first day of 2013 but it is also a holy day for the Catholic Church. This day is the day when we celebrate the Solemnity of Mother of God.

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I am so blessed that I was able to go to a Mass today because a church here had a Holy Mass dedicated for the Mother of God. That church is the Church of Our Lady Mother of God, located in the town of Rangsit, which is just north of Bangkok.

Honoring the Mother of the Word Incarnate is the perfect way of starting the year that's why I made sure that I will not miss today's Mass. I woke up early even though I'm still sleepy due to last night's New Year celebration.

I think that the Mass was great even if I didn't understand most of it because the langage used is Thai.

I am about to leave the church after the Mass but I noticed that people were gathering outside, waiting for something. I was surprised (and delighted) that the Parish will do a procession!

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Little girls in Thai traditional dress holding the banner of Mary.

I was delighted because I never expected to join a Catholic procession in Thailand.

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I was so happy that I was willing to walk for miles even under the sun. Sadly, the procession was just around the church. It was a very short walk. I thought that we will be walking along the highway to make the Virgin Mary known to other people.

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Tons of roses were offered to Mary this day. The Thai Catholics really love Mama Mary like the Filipino Catholics do.

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Red roses for Mama Mary.

I have no rose so I just prayed one “Hail Mary” as my offering to her.

I then left the church, thankful that God allowed me to attend the Holy Massand the procession for the Solemnity of Mother of God.
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I'm Back

(Source: Akinesis)

I am back to the blogging world and I'm just in time for the sparkly New Year.

It has been one month since my last post here in BTES. ONE MONTH!!! Imagine that.

I just intended to be gone for two weeks but December proved to be a busy month for me.

The visa that I am holding right now requires me to leave Thailand after three months' stay. So, I went back to the Philippines for a short vacation.

It was a happy homecoming because I saw my family and, of course, my Beloved. It was an exhausting vacation too. I was so tired that I became paralyzed by fever on my first day here in Thailand.

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Thank God that the fever is gone.

By the way, I want to greet each and every one of you a...
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(Source:  Lucky WP)

I hope that you welcomed AD 2013 with much rejoicing in your heart. I, on the other hand, welcomed the new year away from my love ones. It is my first time to experience this and it is sad...

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...but it is not good to dwell on loneliness.

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Today is a new day of the new month of the new year, which means that today is the day of hope and fresh beginnings. Today is also the day of gratitude and looking back at 2012, I can see that I have lot of things to thank for.

For this blog, I am thankful for those who were with me for all of these years. These people are the so-called “old faces”, who kept on commenting on my posts. Thank you very much:

Suitapui the Food Enthusiast

Arvin the Poet

Tin (a.k.a The Average Jane)

Foong the Panda

Anney the Artist

Tine Maarteh

Milton “Bluedreamer” Coyne

Tom Sower

Ate Faye

Rommel “Diamond” Diamante

Nortehanon

Fish O'Fishie

Lover of Pink Cookies

Kiko ang Manunula

Nicxter

Steven de la Cruz

Teacher Mots

Mommy Einz

Patty Tappy

Sikoletlover

Wrey & Robby

Parekoy Fiel-kun

Super Gulaman

Changa

Unni

I hope that all you continue to being the “old faces” on this blog for this year. Your comments are the spice of my blog posts.

I am also thankful for the “new faces” that I met on this blog just last year. These people are:

Monisima

Nicole Chang

MeCoy

Resty Odon

Mavic the Designer

Wander Shugah

Grysh Co

Kulapitot

Phioxee the Wanderer

Xoxo-Grah

Ignored Genius

Unsugarcoated Reviewer

I hope that all of you turn into “old faces” on this blog.

The people that I met here on my blog is just the tip of the iceberg. I met many people on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Some these people became my friends even if they don't know my face and just know me by my pen name “Ishmael Ahab”.

The friendship that I built with these people made me wonder at the mystery of relationships. How did I gain the trust of these friends whom I haven't met personally. I will contemplate on this next time. What matters now is that our Lord gave me the blessing of friendships with these people.

Let me say, once again, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

May all you have blessed AD 2013. May you grow, not only in prosperity, but in faith. May you have good health of both the body and the soul. And may you gain more friends so that at the end of this year you can say that you had “gained precious gems and treasures.”